Ayo, hey all! Today's hot, eh? Subhan'Allah. OOF :fans herself: (haha I'm such a fob). I just realized there's no fan in this room O.o (Our A/C's not working :gasp: ). It's too late to get up and go get a fan now; I'm stuck to the leather computer chair :rolls her eyes: lol.
I was typing out a blog entry, yesterday...but then I decided not to submit, because I was in a crappy mood and I didn't wanna record that. So yeah, I'm feeling better, Alhamdulillah. Subhan'Allah. Especially after last night. I spent an hour or two reading about death and the akhirah. And about repentance. That was beneficial, because one of the reasons I was feeling crappy yesterday was because my unrepented for sins caught up to me and I realized I had SO many blemishes on my soul. Yeah, I was in deep thought about it all. I even imagined my bed as my grave. The fan was on and boy, it felt great. Alhamdulillah. And I want my grave to feel like that. A "garden from Paradise", not a "pit from Hell". May Allah (swt) make the torments of the grave easy upon us, Ameen. In the dark, thinking, "What if I died right now?" sparked something within me.
"If only thou couldst see when the guilty will bend low their heads before their Lord, (saying:) Our Lord! We have seen and we have heard: Now then send us back (to the world): we will work righteousness: for we indeed (now) believe." {Surah Sajdah, Verse 12}
I have to prove my belief to my Lord, before it's too late. This is our only chance. I can't afford to screw it up :-/.
So, I've realized that, and I'm gonna challenge myself to better for the sake of Allah (swt).
I love how I go through things like this and Allah (swt) opens my eyes to see the real purpose of my creation and the purpose of this world. That only comes from Allah (swt). "Allah tests those whom He loves." (authentic hadith...don't remember the reference. I should memorize some of those eh? hmm anyway!) Good to know! God is Great!! I'm grateful for that. Now if only I did my own part and USED MY BRAIN before attempting to sin. GAH! heh, Insha'Allah, that's all gonna change!! :). The future's lookin' bright...woo.
I know, I know, this post is gonna get even longer because I'm gonna add the stuff I read about Divine Love from the Al-Jumuah Magazine, but don't be overwhelmed! And READ IT. For your own sake :).
So, I've realized that, and I'm gonna challenge myself to better for the sake of Allah (swt).
I love how I go through things like this and Allah (swt) opens my eyes to see the real purpose of my creation and the purpose of this world. That only comes from Allah (swt). "Allah tests those whom He loves." (authentic hadith...don't remember the reference. I should memorize some of those eh? hmm anyway!) Good to know! God is Great!! I'm grateful for that. Now if only I did my own part and USED MY BRAIN before attempting to sin. GAH! heh, Insha'Allah, that's all gonna change!! :). The future's lookin' bright...woo.
I know, I know, this post is gonna get even longer because I'm gonna add the stuff I read about Divine Love from the Al-Jumuah Magazine, but don't be overwhelmed! And READ IT. For your own sake :).
Divine Love
-In the Qur’an and the Prophet’s Teachings-
Why do we love God? Ibnul – Jawzi puts it well in his Saydul Khatir: that we do so because of the basic, God – inspired human instinct to search for perfection and beauty. He says that the very nature of man seeks after a kind of perfection not to be found in other human beings. Perceiving the faults of men, it turns away from them. If at this point, a man’s heart becomes attached to the Love of the Creator and it can no longer pause on any inferior level. As for those who possess true knowledge (ma’rifah, gnosis), they are engrossed in rapture (walahan); love for God having distracted them from all other loves. Their essence becomes drowned in the intense awareness and love (mahabbah) for the divine beauty and perfection.
The following verse emphasizes the high requisites for earning God’s love. The love of God is for those who are not complacent about their Islam, but constantly challenge themselves to be better. They not only avoid the forbidden things, but strive to reach a higher level of piety and faith and continue to strive further – until they are bestowed the greatest bliss and honor of all – divine love: “On those who believe and do deeds of righteousness there is no blame for what they ate (in the past), when they guard themselves from evil, and believe, and do deeds of righteousness, and still (they continue to) guard themselves from evil and believe, and still (they continue to) guard themselves from evil (have taqwa) and seek excellence (ihsan). For Allah loves those who seek excellence.” [5:93]
This is why I think instead of just saying “I love Allah” -just because we know it needs to be said- it’d be better for us to actually look deep into developing that relationship with Allah, our Creator. And not just settle for the perfection of the outer appearance of Islamic acts (namely, salah), but also want to feel it inside of you. And like it was said earlier in the article, when you feel an ounce of that love (or satisfaction/content/fulfillment etc. [it all leads to some type of love, doesn’t it? Or it is all essentially love.]), then you’re gonna want more and more. In other words, strive for excellence and perfection. Me, myself, I like a challenge. And I like winning. Why not challenge yourself to be better for the sake of Allah (swt) ? And win in His cause? You know what I mean? The fiyaa is ignited inside of me, now just tryyy ‘n’ stop me!! Sorry, sudden excitable outburst. Hehe :faint:.
You know, the ultimate bliss of the heart and soul has got to be in knowing and loving God…hmmm…
“He who knows Allah, loves Him.” – Al – Hasan al – Basri
Perfect.
The Beloved of God: Awliya
The concept of wali, literally ‘the one whom God has given special favor and protection,’ has often been misunderstood in Islamic history and has inspired much legend and superstition at the hands of folk preachers and charlatans who ascribe magical powers to the pious men and women to color their narratives and fool the naïve. The awliya (pl. of wali) in Islam are not exactly saints as in Christianity, because no one but God knows the unseen and, unlike the Catholic Church-for example-, no one in Islam can claim to speak infallibly on behalf of God. We do not know for sure how Allah will judge even the most pious of our scholars and worshippers – people’s judgment f someone’s knowledge and piety can always be erroneous and only Allah is the true and final judge. Hence to exaggerate some humans’ merits, sanctifying them beyond reason, consider them beyond and reproach or criticism, is an un-Islamic practice, which has unfortunately been too common among Muslims. On the flip side, there might be true lovers and friends of Allah who are not recognized or even respected by the people.
The following qudsi hadith is the best way to understand this concept: “Allah the Almighty has said: ‘Whoever harbors enmity against a wali of Mine, I declare war against him. Nothing draws My servant closer to Me than doing of what I have made obligatory upon him. And My servant continues to draw nearer to Me with supererogatory (nawafil) deeds until I love him. When I love him, I shall be his hearing with which he shall hear, his sight with which he shall see, his hands with which he shall hold, and his feet with which he shall walk. And if he asks of Me, I shall surely give it to him, and if he takes refuge in Me, I shall surely grant him it.’” (Bukhari)
TEN THINGS THAT ENGENDER LOVE FOR ALLAH
To earn the highest and ultimate honor of Allah’s love, we must love him, and do so in the way He taught us. And the best way to do that is to learn from the words of Allah as He teaches us in the Qur’an the attributes and practices that He loves, and avoid those that He does not love.
One of the most prolific and profound writers on the topic of Allah’s love in the light of the Qur’an and Sunnah is Imam Ibnul Qayyim. In his most celebrated work Madarij-us-Salikeen, he enumerates ten practices that help create and stimulate love for Allah, subhana wa ta’ala, in our hearts.
FIRST, reciting the Qur’an while reflecting on its meanings and implications for us.
SECOND, seeking nearness to Allah by performing voluntary deeds in addition to obligatory ones. The is as stated in the aforementioned qudsi hadith: “My slave continues getting closer to Me by performing voluntary deeds until I love him.” [Bukhari]
THIRD, remembering Allah continuously and under all circumstances, with one’s tongue, heart and actions. The extent of one’s love for Allah is determined by this.
FOURTH, giving precedence to what He loves over what you love even when you are overtaken by your desires.
FIFTH, adorning your heart with Allah’s Names and Attributes and roaming frequently in the garden of that blessed knowledge.
SIXTH, witnessing and contemplating on Allah’s mercy, goodness and bounties, both hidden and open.
SEVENTH, and this is the most wonderful, softening, humbling and subduing one’s heart before Allah.
EIGHTH, being alone with Allah in worship during the time when the lord descends during the last portion of the night, reading His Book and seeking forgives and repentance.
NINTH, being in the company of the beloved and sincere servants of Allah, subhana wa ta’ala, and benefiting from the most fruitful of their speech and speaking only when speaking will improve your state and be beneficial to others.
TENTH, staying away from everything that comes between Allah and your heart.
These ten causes take the lovers to the station of true love and bring them to their Beloved.
SHOULD WE LOVE PARADISE?
Ibn Taymiyyah rejects the notion that Paradise cannot be loved for itself or Hellfire cannot be feared, as it flies in the face of the commonsensical understanding of the Qur’an and Sunnah. He argues that all favors which God has prepared for His beloved, including the ru’yah (vision of God) are all included in the general Qur’anic concept of Jannah. Thre is no doubt, however, that the bliss of the vision and company of God will be the greatest for the believers in the afterlife, and Ibn Taymiyyah says in his at – Tuhfatul Iraqiyyah, those who truly seek it are among the special beloved of God.
This was most likely in response to the well-known du’a of Rabi’ah al-Adwiyyah of Basra, mentioned earlier in the article, this one:
“O Lord, if I worship you out of fear of hell, then burn me in hell.
If I worship you in the hope of paradise, forbid it to me.
And if I worship you for your own sake,
Do not deprive me of your eternal beauty.
(Translated by Paul Losensky, Early Islamic Mysticism)
Those are the parts I thought were worth sharing, may we all benefit from it! Insha’Allah. The rest of the article is about the theological debates about divine love. That was interesting, as well – learned some new stuff, Alhamdulillah :).
The Prophet, sallallahu alaihe wa sallam, taught the following du’a or prayer to his Companions, “O Allah, allow me to love You and to love those who love You, and to love whatsoever brings me nearer to Your love, and make Your love more precious to me than cold water to the thirsty.” (Tirmithi)
More precious than cold water to the thirsty?? YESS. ALLAHU AKBAR!
Alhamdulillah.
Aiight, Safia is getting hot and is hungry and hence will get cranky in 3..2..RUN WHILE YOU CAN!
J/K, I'm harmless ^_^.
Mmm, lasagna :drool:.
Salam :D.
